Saratoga County District Attorney investigation finds no inappropriate activity in Halfmoon Supervisor's land transactions

HALFMOON -- The Saratoga County district attorney said Wednesday he has concluded his investigation into land transactions made by Halfmoon Supervisor Melinda "Mindy" Wormuth and found nothing inappropriate transpired.

The investigation was requested by Saratoga County Democratic Committee Chairman Todd Kerner, who asked that an independent prosecutor be appointed to look into the transactions, which had been reported by the media.

District Attorney James A. Murphy III said his department found the two properties sold by Wormuth and her husband Larry in 2011 were done so at prices comparable to other similarly zoned properties.

The properties at 409 and 411 Route 146 were sold in December for $300,000 each to Scott Earl, the former owner of County Waste and Recycling, a potential purchaser of the county landfill. After the publicity about the sale, Wormuth stepped down as a chair and member of the county committee that is involved in the possible landfill sale.

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"We found she and her husband owned the properties for a long time and they have always been zoned commercial," Murphy said. "The media reports said the market value was high, but they were comparing them with similar properties in residential zones. I thought it important to look at similarly zoned properties. When we did, we found ones with market values, higher than the Wormuths and lower."

"The price they received appears to be fair market value," Murphy said. "As far as my office is concerned, we have done our due diligence and have satisfied Mr. Kerner and our investigation is complete."

However, Kerner also asked the state Attorney General's office to look into the situation through its public integrity unit.

"There are more questions surrounding Mrs. Wormuth than those regarding just the land transactions," Kerner said. "As supervisor she has shown a continuing course of behavior that is questionable, from conflicts of interest to the use of town resources for political purposes. It is my understanding the Attorney General's office is now looking into the matter."

The Attorney General's office did not return a call to confirm whether it was doing an investigation at Kerner's request, and Wormuth said she hadn't been contacted by that office.

"We got fair market value for the property based on the fact that it was commercial property," Wormuth said, adding that the only reason she resigned from the county public works committee was so this issue wouldn't be a "distraction."